Growth of Carbon Nanotubes on Carbon Toray Paper for Bio-Fuel Cell Applications

Author(s):  
Bhupesh Chandra ◽  
Joshua T. Kace ◽  
Yuhao Sun ◽  
S. C. Barton ◽  
James Hone

In recent years carbon nanotubes have emerged as excellent materials for applications in which high surface area is required e.g. gas sensing, hydrogen storage, solar cells etc. Ultra-high surface to volume ratio is also a desirable property in the applications requiring enhanced catalytic activity where these high surface area materials can act as catalyst supports. One of the fastest developing areas needing such materials is fuel-cell. Here we investigate the process through which carbon nanotubes can be manufactured specifically to be used to increase the surface area of a carbon paper (Toray™). This carbon support is used in bio-catalytic fuel cell as an electrode to support enzyme which catalyzes the redox reaction. Deposition of nanotubes on these carbon fibers can result in great enhancement in the overall surface area to support the enzyme, which increases the reaction rate inside the fuel cell. The present paper describes a method to achieve ultra-thick growth of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNT) on a carbon Toray™ paper using a joule heating process and gas-phase catalyst. Using this method, we are able to achieve rapid, high-density, and uniform MWNT growth. This method is also potentially scalable toward larger-scale production.

Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 3365
Author(s):  
Magdalena Kierkowicz ◽  
Elzbieta Pach ◽  
Julio Fraile ◽  
Concepción Domingo ◽  
Belén Ballesteros ◽  
...  

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), owing to their high surface area-to-volume ratio and hollow core, can be employed as hosts for adsorbed and/or encapsulated molecules. At high temperatures, the ends of CNTs close spontaneously, which is relevant for several applications, including catalysis, gas storage, and biomedical imaging and therapy. This study highlights the influence of the annealing temperature in the range between 400 and 1100 °C on the structure and morphology of single-walled CNTs. The nitrogen adsorption and density functional theory calculations indicate that the fraction of end-closed CNTs increases with temperature. Raman spectroscopy reveals that the thermal treatment does not alter the tubular structure. Insight is also provided into the efficacy of CNTs filling from the molten phase, depending on the annealing temperature. The CNTs are filled with europium (III) chloride and analyzed by using electron microscopy (scanning electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, confirming the presence of filling and closed ends. The filling yield increases with temperature, as determined by thermogravimetric analysis. The obtained results show that the apparent surface area of CNTs, fraction of closed ends, and amount of encapsulated payload can be tailored via annealing.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlon Danny Jerez-Masaquiza ◽  
Lenys Fernández ◽  
Gema González ◽  
Marjorie Montero-Jiménez ◽  
Patricio J. Espinoza-Montero

In this work, a new hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) electrochemical sensor was fabricated. Prussian blue (PB) was electrodeposited on a glassy carbon (GC) electrode modified with zirconia doped functionalized carbon nanotubes (ZrO2-fCNTs), (PB/ZrO2-fCNTs/GC). The morphology and structure of the nanostructured system were characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), specific surface area, X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Raman and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The electrochemical properties were studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA). Zirconia nanocrystallites (6.6 ± 1.8 nm) with cubic crystal structure were directly synthesized on the fCNTs walls, obtaining a well dispersed distribution with a high surface area. The experimental results indicate that the ZrO2-fCNTs nanostructured system exhibits good electrochemical properties and could be tunable by enhancing the modification conditions and method of synthesis. The fabricated sensor could be used to efficiently detect H2O2, presenting a good linear relationship between the H2O2 concentration and the peak current, with quantification limit (LQ) of the 10.91 μmol·L−1 and detection limit (LD) of 3.5913 μmol·L−1.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 206-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aeran Kim ◽  
Seongyop Lim ◽  
Dong-Hyun Peck ◽  
Sang-Kyung Kim ◽  
Byungrok Lee ◽  
...  

2007 ◽  
Vol 100 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Jie Niu ◽  
Jian Nong Wang ◽  
Ying Jiang ◽  
Lian Feng Su ◽  
Jie Ma

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 2640-2647 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Zhao ◽  
Zhong Chen

Nanostructures exhibit numerous merits to improve the efficiency in solar-to-energy conversion. These include shortened carrier collection pathways, an increased volume ratio between depletion layer and bulk, enhanced light capture due to multiple light scattering in nanostructures, and a high surface area for photochemical conversion reactions. In this study, we describe the synthesis of morphology-controlled W-doped BiVO4 by simply tuning the solvent ratio in precursor solutions. Planar and porous W-doped BiVO4 thin films were prepared and compared. The porous film, which exhibits increased surface area and enhanced light absorption, has displayed enhanced charge separation and interfacial charge injection. Our quantitative analysis showed an enhancement of about 50% of the photoelectrochemical performance for the porous structure compared to the planar structure. This enhancement is attributed to improved light absorption (13% increase), charge separation (14% increase), and interfacial charge injection (20% increase).


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